Jodi Finkel, 6/5/07
Title:
Opening the Realm of the Possible
Header:
It was a professor who first sparked Jodi Finkel’s passion for social justice and Latin American politics during her years of undergraduate study. Now an assistant professor of political science in the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts, she aims to do the same.
Feature:
It was a professor who first sparked Jodi Finkel’s passion for social justice and Latin American politics during her years of undergraduate study at UCLA. Now an assistant professor of political science in the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts, she aims to do the same.
“I like to get to know a student and find out what they’re interested in. If I know a student is interested in Botswana I can ask myself, ‘Who do I know in Botswana? How can I get them an internship over there?’”
Finkel’s own interests in the rule of law and democratization in Latin America have led her to conduct research in Mexico, Argentina and Peru. She has presented her work at conferences in the United States, Latin America and Europe and has published several articles on judicial reform. Her forthcoming book, “Judicial Reform as Political Insurance: Latin America in the 1990s” will be published in fall 2007.
As a professor of courses focused on political and economic development, Finkel prides herself on getting students to turn their ideas into action.
“I like to teach subjects like building democratic institutions, sustainable development, and human rights,” she says. “Then I’ll hand a student a list of questions, and send them out of my office to go knock on the door of a nonprofit to get some answers.”
Leading by example, Finkel is a founding board member of Por un Mejor Hoy, an NGO and youth hostel that provides opportunities for young people from around the world to volunteer in communities in Mexico. She was also instrumental in the formation of the nonprofit organization MuJER a literacy and vocational training program for sex workers in the red light district of Guatemala City. The latter is a result of collaboration with two of her former LMU students, Ana Moraga [LibArts ’05] and Tania Torres [LibArts‘’05].
One day, Finkel was listening to a broadcast on National Public Radio featuring a story about a Guatemalan prostitute who stated it was her dream to learn to read. She then called Moraga and Torres into her office, who she knew were dedicated to the cause of female empowerment in the developing world. After playing them the tape, Finkel told them, “I’ll give you $300 and will fundraise the rest if you’ll go to Guatemala and teach that woman to read.”
The two accepted Finkel’s offer, moved to Guatemala City in August 2005, created MuJER, and began teaching literacy classes. Since then, the alums continue to reside in Guatemala and have also developed computer courses and English classes for the women, established scholarships to send women to vocational schools and became part of a campaign to end domestic violence.
Finkel is active on campus as the advisor of the College Republicans, the Armenian Student Association and the Save Darfur Coalition. Her current research examines the conditions that facilitate the development of effective ombudsman offices (institutions that protect human rights) in Latin America.
“Most students think they’ll go to school for four years, go to law school for another three years and then do something,” Finkel says. “I say, why not now? My job as a teacher is to open the realm of the possible.”